


Magic: How Jean's Life Became a Zoo

by XenophonSpeaks



Series: Erejean Week [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animal Death, Animals, M/M, Neighbors, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:13:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3667134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XenophonSpeaks/pseuds/XenophonSpeaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean's never been a big animal person, but when he moves into a larger apartment, getting a dog seems natural. Too bad the damn thing won't listen to a word he says.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magic: How Jean's Life Became a Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Day Five of Erejean Week: Magic
> 
> Warning: This story is rated Mature for animal/character death. Please don't let that dissuade you from reading because I promise you, it has a happy ending (I think I hate sad endings more than anyone). 
> 
> This was actually the last prompt I wrote (I did them all out of order; yay me) and it's probably the one I'm most proud of. Out of everything I wrote for Erejean Week, this was the one story I felt could have been a multi-chaptered fic. 
> 
> I like the way it turned out. Hopefully you do, too.
> 
> PS: I posted this a wee bit earlier than I usually do because I'll be at work tonight (and thus wouldn't be able to do so otherwise). I'm sure it's painful to see it up early, but please try and forgive me. :P

It all started when Jean moved into a new apartment. He had recently been promoted at work to Senior Program Analyst, which meant he could afford a bigger place, and since the company he worked for was downtown anyway, he thought an upgrade in apartment size couldn’t hurt.

Then Jean had made the mistake of getting a dog. Mistake only because the damn thing wouldn’t listen to a word he said. He loved his brown spaniel, a medium sized dog the shelter had said was a “Pont-Audemer Spaniel,” whatever that meant. Jean couldn’t give less of a fuck what kind of dog he had, she’d just seemed very friendly and pretty much perfect for the size of his new place.

He wasn’t a huge animal lover. He didn’t dislike animals, but he also saw them as more of a practical necessity more than anything else. Considering how empty and quiet his new apartment had been, getting a dog seemed natural.

Too bad the damn thing wouldn’t listen to a word he said.

“Brownie, stop,” he hissed, waiting for the light to change outside his building. His dog was eagerly wagging her tail, tongue lolling out in excitement. He ruffled her hair in a placating way, a shudder passing through him as his body adjusted to the blustery winter weather outside.

Brownie continued to fidget in place, which wasn’t exactly unusual for her. She spent a majority of her time running laps around the apartment and hording random objects. Jean had found no less than three piles of missing items hidden around his apartment since he’d gotten her a couple of weeks ago. In that time he had discovered she was very easily excitable. Anything from the building creaking to a bird flying by the window could set her off in a frenzy of confused joy. The way she stood at the window and happily barked at pigeons and sparrows made Jean want to hit his head on a wall.

At least she really was a friendly dog, he supposed.

He staggered slightly in place as she walked a circle around him. Sighing, he carefully extracted himself from the tangled mass of cord knotted around his legs. “Please chill, Brownie. You can’t just run around here. There are cars and people everywhere, you could get hurt—“

His dog promptly jerked out of his hold with more strength than Jean would have expected her to possess, causing Jean to stumble as she made a beeline for a guy standing near the entrance to his apartment building.

He just wanted to take her for a walk. Was that really so much to ask? They hadn’t even made it across the street yet, for fucks sake.

“Brownie!” he shouted, running after his wayward animal before she jumped on someone or did something else equally offensive. “Get back here! Brownie!”

“Brownie?” asked the guy she’d run up to. His dog now sat before the man, wagging her tail furiously, her mouth open and emitting a staccato of pleased whining. “Why are you calling her Brownie? Her name is Zoe.”

Jean came to a stop before the guy. Something about him looked vaguely familiar, dark shaggy hair tousled around an inviting face, tanned skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes as he patted the dog kindly—his dog, which was now behaving, not barking or fidgeting around or jumping up but just sitting. There was something weird about being told his dog had the wrong name, but there was something even weirder about a stranger being able to get his dog to instantly do what Jean had been trying to accomplish for the last three weeks.

“What the hell?” Jean said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “Her name is Brownie. I named her. She’s my damn dog.” Brownie might not be the most creative name in the world, he acknowledged, but it fit her just fine.

The guy pushed off the wall, bending over to ruffle his dog’s curly ears fondly and earning himself several grateful licks in the process. “Well, she thinks her name is Zoe. You should probably listen to her.”

 _What the fuck?_ was all Jean could think to himself, still stunned. _There’s no way._

“Zoe,” Jean said, jumping with a start as his dog’s head whipped to look at him, eyes wide and eerily attentive, her attention focused entirely on his being for perhaps the first time since he’d gotten her.

“What the fuck?” he said aloud. “What are you, the dog whisperer or some shit?”

Any civil air to the conversation immediately died. The guy looked up to give Jean a look that clearly suggested he was this close to getting decked in the face. It was probably the dirtiest look he’d ever received from anyone, to be honest, and for some reason it was that look that jogged Jean’s memory.

“Wait a minute. You’re the guy who lives across the hall from me. Apartment 306, right?” Jean asked, and when the guy didn’t even blink, just continued to glare steadily at him, Jean rushed to make amends. “Uh, I’m the new guy in Apartment 307. I’m Jean Kirschtein. Sorry for being kind of an asshole.”

Figures he would piss off his neighbor, of all people. His hot neighbor, his brain registered distractedly as he watched the sun catch in his eyes which seemed to be a brilliant shade that was neither wholly green nor wholly blue.

The guy slowly straightened up, his heated gaze softening minutely. After a moment of apparent deliberation, he eventually stuck out his hand. “I’m Eren Jaeger. And yes, I live in 306.”

Jean gratefully took the proffered hand, surprised at how pleasantly warm Eren’s grasp felt considering how chilly it was outside. “I’m sorry I called you the dog whisperer, that was rude. I’m rude. But seriously, though. How did you do that?”

Jean was so focused on watching the flush that gradually darkened Eren’s tan cheeks, the wind ruffling his hair gently as he cast his gaze somewhere over Jean’s shoulder, that he failed to realize how close they were still standing. He distantly noted that Eren had a gentle sort of air about him—at least, when he wasn’t actively scowling.

“Can you, um, let go of my hand?” Eren asked after a moment, clearly amused.

Jean abruptly realized he was in fact still holding onto the warmth of Eren’s fingers. “Sorry!” he said, quickly letting go, his hand coming up to fiddle with the back of his winter hat nervously.

Jean became aware of two things: One, he was aware of the uncomfortable sensation that he might be fast developing a crush, and two: he realized he had just embarrassed himself twice in less than five minutes. In front of said newfound crush. Perfect.

“It’s fine,” Eren said, tucking his hands in the pockets of his large brown coat, offering Jean an awkward smile.

Jean looked at Brownie, who was now apparently Zoe, to find her looking at him with what could only be a shit-eating grin. He scowled, picking up her leash again, still surprised at how well behaved she was being.

“I, um,” Eren began, fidgeting. Zoe looked to him, nudging at his leg gently with her nose. He smiled. “I work at an animal shelter. I’m pretty good at reading animals.”

Jean felt like that wasn’t a very good explanation for how he was able to guess his dog’s preferred name, but he also didn’t feel like saying something that would make him look like even more of an asshole than he already did.

“A shelter? That’s cool. I got Brownie—er, Zoe. I got Zoe from a shelter a few weeks ago,” he said, trying to steer the conversation in a direction where he hopefully wouldn’t fuck it up. “Which one do you work at?”

Eren shifted from one foot to the other. “The Shiganshina no-kill shelter.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. Isn’t that pretty new though?” Jean had remembered reading something about that online when he was looking for places to adopt from.

“Yeah,” Eren said, scratching at his face nervously. “I, uh, I’m kind of one of the founders. My sister and best friend opened it with me.”

Jean tried not to let his jaw drop. He felt sort of like he was living next door to a prodigy. Eren didn’t look like he could be older than 25 or 30. It seemed like a pretty big accomplishment for someone so young to have already accomplished something so huge.

“So did you go to school for veterinary medicine or something?” Jean asked, at somewhat of a loss.

Eren shrugged, not meeting Jean’s eye. “I’m good at what I do,” was all he said.

“Right. You must be,” Jean agreed, looking back at where Zoe happily sat, staring at Eren as if he was her new favorite thing. “Well, uh, I need to take her for a walk. It was nice meeting you. I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah,” Eren agreed, looking relieved. “Same.”

They waved at each other politely, Jean tugging at the leash of a now very-reluctant Zoe. As they once again waited for the light to change, Jean looked back to find that Eren had disappeared.

Beside him, Zoe sighed. Jean sighed too. “I know. I feel you. I’m sure we’ll run into him again though.”

Zoe licked his hand. Jean had the strangest impression that she understood him somehow.

-

A few weeks later found Jean and Zoe getting along much better. After meeting Eren, Jean had felt weirdly like his dog wasn’t just a dog. In some indescribable way, Jean now felt like Zoe understood him on some level. He quit using phrases like, “No, bad Brownie, bad!” to get her to stop doing things. Instead he would walk up to her, look her in the eye, and explain to her why she shouldn’t do the thing.

He felt like an idiot. Dogs weren’t people. Yet somehow it worked a whole helluva lot better than yelling had.

One day, upon coming back from getting groceries with Zoe, her ears suddenly perked up, her nose snuffling all over the floor outside of Jean’s apartment door until it came to rest under the crack of the door to apartment 306.

“Hey, that’s not ours,” Jean grumbled, unlocking the door to his place and attempting to pull her inside. Zoe wouldn’t budge. Jean saw the handle on the door to Eren’s apartment rattle, but it didn’t open. He thought he heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a meow.

He quickly ducked inside to set the groceries down on his kitchen table, running back out into the hall to find Zoe exactly where he’d left her. She looked at him, whining pitifully as her nails scraped against the white paint of Eren’s door.

“Hey, no, we’re not paying for that,” Jean said, moving to stop her. “I’ll knock, ok? Just wait a minute.”

Zoe settled down, pacing in place and letting out a low whine. Jean knocked on the door.

He could hear movement inside and what sounded like muffled talking, and after a moment Eren’s head appeared around the corner of the door. “Oh. Hey. What’s up?”

Jean realized very suddenly that he didn’t really have a reason to be knocking on Eren’s door at all. _My dog was scratching at your door_ wasn’t a very valid reason to bother his hot neighbor.

Jean opened his mouth but before he could get a word out, Zoe darted past Eren and into his apartment.

Jean made a strangled sound. “Zoe! Get back here!”

“She’s fine,” Eren said hurriedly, opening the door wide enough to let Jean in as well. “Come inside quickly, please.”

Jean stepped in past the threshold, Eren closing the door swifly behind him. The apartment was similar to Jean’s own, though furnished completely different. Eren’s home was surprisingly clean for someone who Jean had noted typically looked disheveled in a sexy sort of way. The beige carpet and wood floors were covered with several deep brown and green rugs, a plush green couch sitting invitingly in the center of the living room. Long gray curtains hung around the windows, framing the view from outside in gentle light. A television stand, coffee table, and a series of mismatched bookshelves lining one wall were all made of different wood grains.

It was all very earthy and welcoming. Everything about the place screamed comfort.

He turned to Eren to find him worriedly chewing at his lip. “Please don’t tell the front office,” he said.

Confused, Jean looked back at the room again, noticing for the first time that Eren wasn’t living alone.

“What the fuck,” was all he could say.

On the floor, Zoe was rolling around, belly in the air as she nuzzled a black cat with a tuft of white fur high on its chest. The cat was purring loudly, though it was more or less just accepting the attention rather than rubbing back.

A yellow bunny with piercing blue eyes peered out from behind the couch, watching the affectionate exchange calmly. Jean could also make out two birds sitting on a stand in the corner of the living room, closest to the balcony doors.

“We’re only supposed to have one pet per apartment,” Jean said slowly, raising an eyebrow as he again turned to look at Eren.

Eren fidgeted apprehensively, an angry knit to his brow.

“Look, just please don’t say anything. I take good care of them and they all get along well. I would never do anything to hurt an animal,” he said defensively.

Jean waved him off, continuing to look around the room. “I won’t say anything. Just... why do you have them all?”

“They adopted me,” Eren said instantly. He appeared to register what he’d just said a moment later, backtracking immediately. “I mean, I adopted them. Um. They needed homes and liked me a lot so, you know. Here they are.”

Jean gave Eren a look. There was something too weird about all of this, though Jean couldn’t quite put his finger on _what_ was so weird. Plenty of people had lots of pets. Something about the cleanliness of the house and the cohesiveness with which they all appeared to coexist seemed strange, though.

Zoe was still happily licking and rubbing at the cat on the floor, her whining having morphed into a high pitched whine. She sounded nearly frantic with joy.

Jean bent down to pet her. “Hey, it’s ok. Calm down,” he said quietly. Her only response was to lick his hand too before returning to the cat, which Jean suddenly noticed was missing an eye.

“What happened to it?” he asked. Eren dropped down heavily onto the carpeted floor beside him, rubbing the cat gently behind its ears.

“He was a stray. I met him like that. He was living on the streets, so I think he must have lost it in a fight. He’s pretty tough. I found him on my balcony one morning and he’s just… never really left,” Eren said fondly. The cat’s purring grew louder, if that were even possible, butting his head against Eren’s hand. “His name is Levi.”

“Levi,” Jean echoed quietly. The cat’s eye opened to pin him with a piercing gaze, his remaining eye a steely blue.

“I think they were friends,” Eren said, watching Zoe and Levi closely.

Jean saw the rabbit hop over to sit at Eren’s side out of the corner of his eye. Zoe appeared to notice him at the same time, jumping up to begin rubbing all over him as well. The rabbit looked unfazed by the attention, which Jean found odd. He’d always thought rabbits were skittish. It looked like it was grinding its teeth quietly. Jean was pretty sure that was a happy rabbit behavior. Eren certainly seemed to think so.

“Ah, this is Erwin,” Eren said pleasantly, patting the bunny gently on the back. “He was injured and dropped off where I work. Broken leg. He’s perfectly fine now, though.” Jean watched Eren glance over at Levi, who was watching them all imperiously. “I take Levi to work with me sometimes. He saw Erwin and wanted to bring him home, too. They’re best friends, always sunbathing together or sitting in a pile on the rug. Looks like Zoe must have been his friend, too.”

Something about the way Eren was speaking struck Jean as odd, and he finally realized what it was. “What do you mean they must have been friends? Or that they were friends?”

Eren’s hand stilled in midair, his tan features taking on an unhealthy pallor. “I didn’t know I said it that way. I meant they’re friends. They are. They clearly like each other,” he said, as though he was trying to convince himself as much as Jean.

Jean was quiet a moment. He thought very, very hard about what he wanted to say next.

“You’re like some kind of pet psychic or something, aren’t you,” Jean deadpanned, something finally clicking in his brain as he said it. Eren’s eyes pinned him with a startled look, his face going from white to red at an alarming rate. “That’s why you got mad, when I called you a dog whisperer before, or whatever I said.”

Eren opened his mouth. Closed it again. Opened it and made a strange sound reminiscent of air being let out of a balloon before snapping it shut once more.

“No?” he squeaked.

“Don’t lie. I can tell you’re lying.”

“How the fuck did you figure that out?” he blurted, looking very conflicted. Jean laughed.

“I don’t know. It sounds crazy,” he said, leaning back on one arm, his other hand fisting itself in his hair. “I saw a show about some lady like that once. It seemed like a hoax, but all the stuff she claimed to do you’ve kind of just been… well, doing.”

He felt Eren’s gaze on him, and he reached over to pet Zoe absently. She turned to lay her head in his lap, eyes watching the other animals in the room with a look of contentment.

“And you don’t think that’s crazy? That I’m crazy?” Eren asked skeptically into the quiet.

Jean shook his head. “Guess it just kind of makes sense. More sense than it has been, anyway.”

They both sat there quietly in the face of this revelation. After a while, Jean began to feel curiosity creeping in. “How does that work, though? Like, uh. Do they talk to you or something?” Jean glanced at Eren to find him looking awkward but relieved.

“No. Not like people talk, anyway. More like feelings, I guess. I just sort of know how they feel, or what they’re thinking about. It’s usually pretty vague. Sometimes it works better than others. There isn’t really a guide book for how to get better at it, so I just kind of wing things.”

Jean kicked one leg out in front of him, leaning over and putting his hand out in front of Levi. Levi gave him a look that told Jean he’d probably be better off if he didn’t try to touch him just yet. “How did that start?”

Eren leaned back on his own arms, relaxing somewhat. He breathed out a sigh. “I don’t remember it starting. It was just always kind of there, even when I was really young. My sister, Mikasa, always believed me. So did my best friend, Armin. We grew up together. I don’t really get along well with most people,” Eren confessed.

Jean nodded in understanding. There was a reason he was a computer programmer.

“I wanted to work with animals but didn’t really want to go to college. Mikasa and Armin both studied veterinary medicine, and we opened a no-kill shelter with the inheritance money Mikasa and I got when my dad died.”

Jean mulled this information over. “Then what do you do there if you don’t know vet stuff and whatever?”

He saw Eren tense again. “I can usually figure out what’s wrong with an animal. Where it’s in pain, sometimes even what happened to cause the pain in the first place if the animal is thinking about it.”

“So you just diagnose stuff?”

Eren nodded, adding, “And I help take care of them until we can find new homes for them, obviously.”

Something about the way Eren was still tense made Jean feel like there was more to it than that, but he didn’t want to push his luck. This whole thing was surreal enough as it was.

“This is really surreal,” he voiced aloud after a while. Eren laughed lightly, and Jean found himself liking the sound more than was strictly necessary.

“I’ll say. No one ever believes this shit,” Eren said, smiling sadly. Jean wondered about that smile. About how much pain having that kind of ability might cause someone. How many people had Eren come across who hadn’t believed what he had to say? How many people had animals who Eren had tried to help, only to be spurned?

Why the fuck was Jean even believing any of this anyway? He didn’t really have a good answer for that. Probably because he was still nursing a humongous crush on the guy, he reasoned, because he could think of no other logical explanation.

“I’m sorry,” Jean said. “I mean it’s pretty cool that you can do all of that, but it also probably kind of sucks sometimes.”

Eren looked up at him with those large green eyes like he couldn’t believe Jean was even real. As though he were too good to be true. Jean felt his heart rate accelerating as Eren opened his mouth to say something, but—

“Kiss him! Kiss him!” yelled a tiny voice from across the room. Jean realized it was one of the birds but couldn’t help the embarrassed flush creeping across his face. He noticed with some delight that Eren was also beat red.

“Shut it, you!” Eren tossed back. The bird appeared to be pleased with itself, making a series of trilling sounds. It had a wild mass of gray feathers on its bobbing head.

“Kiss him!” it chirped again before the orange and yellow bird beside it began pecking at it.

“Stupid!” the orange bird chirped. The gray one made a series of indignant squawks before it began chirping back. “Stupid!” “Stupid!” rang out across the tiny apartment, back and forth. Eren just sighed, dropping his face into his hands.

“Sorry. Those are my parakeets. The gray one is Oluo. He’s incredibly rude. The orange one is Petra. She’s a sweetheart. They were both Shiganshina Shelter residents that adopted me. I don’t really know how but they seemed to know my name when they met me.”

Jean watched with some amusement as Levi stalked across the room to sit beneath the bird stand. His tail twitched against the carpet angrily. Both birds immediately scooted away from one another.

“Pretty bird! Good bird!” chirped Oluo, while Petra sang a pleasant little song. Levi eventually walked back toward where Jean and Eren were sprawled near the entryway, gracefully lying down against Zoe’s side, to which she gave a happy little huff.

Eren laughed, watching. “Levi wanted to bring each of them home when he met them, but he doesn’t really get along well with Oluo. Which is funny, because Oluo’s always trying to impress Levi.”

Across the room Oluo gave a shrill whistle of disagreement. Jean smiled wryly. Eren had quite a menagerie going on, that much was for sure.

Jean felt so comfortable and at home for a moment that he was surprised when he remembered this wasn’t where he lived. More importantly, he remembered he had groceries spoiling on his kitchen counter.

“Shit,” he cursed, moving to stand. “I forgot about my groceries. We have to go, girl.” He looked down at Zoe, who was staring up at him balefully. Jean suspected she probably didn’t want to leave her newfound friends. Or newfound old friends. He wasn’t too clear on that part.

“Yeah, I’m sure you have things to do,” Eren said, standing as well. Jean thought he sounded slightly disappointed. “She’s welcome to come back and visit any time she wants, though. You too, if you want.”

“Oh, thanks,” Jean said, face flushing yet again. “I’m sure she’d love that. We’d love that. Yeah.”

They both stood there awkwardly. After a moment, Levi stood up gracefully, padding over to the door as if showing them out.

Zoe stood up with a grumble, nudging Jean’s leg with her nose as she made for the door. “Um. We’ll see you soon?” Jean said uncertainly, following Zoe’s lead.

“Yeah.”

Once Jean was back inside his own apartment, he sat down heavily at his kitchen table, wondering exactly what the fuck had just happened. He also wondered how to proceed from there without seeming like a clingy loser, because he couldn’t deny the urge he was already feeling to go back and say hello again tomorrow.

“I’m screwed,” he said aloud. Zoe zipped happily around the kitchen. “This is all your fault.”

She barked unrepentantly. Jean laid his head on the table and groaned.

-

About a week and a half later, Jean found himself working on code one evening and decided he needed a break. It was late, but never too late for a movie. A new action flick he was a big fan of was supposed to be out on Redbox and he thought it would be the perfect way to take his mind off of the frustration of trying to debug a program and fixing an error only to come up with several new ones in the process.

As much as coding sucked, Jean couldn’t really say he would prefer to do anything else. It was a whole lot better than dealing with people on a daily basis.

He pushed his glasses up on top of his head to rub tiredly at his eyes, standing up to put on shoes and a decent pair of pants. It was pretty early in the night, meaning he knew he’d probably be awake until the wee hours of the morning trying to fix this shit anyway. Bless Redbox for being a 24 hour service.

“Come on, Zoe,” he said, though it was kind of unnecessary seeing as how she was already eagerly waiting at the door for him. He leashed her collar, opening his door and stepping outside.

Across from him, Eren blinked at him owlishly, his key halfway to his own apartment door.

“Hey,” Jean greeted him, trying not to sound too pleased. He’d secretly been hoping to run into him since their last encounter, having avoided actually visiting Eren’s apartment out of fear of coming off as too eager.

“Hey,” Eren greeted back, turning to face him. “Where are you going at this hour?”

 _This hour? Please. It’s like eleven or something,_ he thought, but said, “Oh. I’m taking a break from work to grab a movie. There’s one that just came out on Redbox that I really want to see again.”

Eren looked at him in disbelief, shaking his head a moment. “I don’t suppose you’re talking about Kingsman, are you?”

Jean’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “How did you know?”

Eren smiled, holding up the Redbox case that had been tucked under his arm. “Lucky guess. I’m also a big fan. Do you, uh, want to watch it with me?”

Zoe barked happily, pulling him toward Eren’s door. Jean tried not to look too excited but imagined he was probably easy to see through anyway. “Yeah, sure. Zoe’s been wanting to come visit anyway.”

Eren smiled, opening the door to his apartment and ushering them all inside. “Oh. I, uh, I have a new housemate,” he said, turning on a couple of lamps in the living room. Jean stepped inside, removing Zoe’s leash and watching with amusement as she immediately rushed over and began nuzzling Levi.

“New housemate?” he asked, walking across the room to have a look at the birds. Petra trilled happily at him, and he smiled.

“Horse!” squawked Oluo proudly.

“You really are an asshole,” he muttered at the bird, receiving a pleased whistle in response.

Eren was rummaging around the television stand, getting the movie set up to play. “Yeah. Levi made me bring home someone else last week.”

Jean turned to give Levi a raised eyebrow, receiving an unreadable stare in return.

“Hold on, let me find them,” Eren said, bending down to peer under the coffee table. Jean took the opportunity to memorize the visual of Eren’s backside, filing it away for later reflection.

“Ah! Here they are. Come out and say hello,” he coaxed gently. A moment later, two rabbits hopped out from under the coffee table.

Jean immediately burst out laughing. “What is that thing?”

Eren glared at him. “That _thing_ is Mike, and he’s an Angora rabbit,” he said grumpily, petting Mike’s long hair. “Levi was also convinced he was Erwin’s boyfriend, and so far I can’t find any reason not to believe him. They won’t stop cuddling and, uh… well, doing what rabbits do,” Eren finished, face flushing.

It never failed to amuse Jean that despite that this was ostensibly Eren’s apartment, it was very clear who was actually in charge of everything that went on in it.

Jean walked over and sat down before the rabbit. “Sorry. I’ve never seen a rabbit with hair like that before, is all. Uh, nice to meet you, Mike,” he said, sticking out his hand with his palm down. He was surprised when Mike hopped over and began sniffing him vigorously, eventually hopping back over to Erwin and snuggling into his side.

“He thinks you smell nice, which I think means he likes you. I’m not really sure. Mike is really unique,” Eren said, standing up and walking into the kitchen.

Jean just sat there on the floor, staring blankly at the rabbits. Trying his hardest not to feel like he was in some kind of weird dream. Trying not to feel like his life was becoming a zoo where nothing really made a whole lot of sense.

“Do you want something to eat? I haven’t had dinner yet so I’m kind of hungry,” he called from the other room. Jean stood up to follow him in.

“They’re still delivering pizza if you want to order some. I’ll pay since you got the movie,” he offered.

-

It became a regular thing after that. Eren’s schedule meant that he often got home late, and Jean’s schedule often meant he stayed up late anyway, so every weekend they would meet at Eren’s place to watch a movie and eat takeout of some sort. They discovered they both had a love for action movies and ended up going through both of their collections before moving on to whatever they could find for rent.

In that time, Jean learned a lot of things. For one, he finally figured out why Eren’s house was so clean. “Levi is really particular about cleanliness,” Eren had said. “He won’t tolerate a messy house. Throws a fit and wakes me up every few minutes in the middle of the night until everything is up to his standards.” Jean figured that was probably true, what with the way he gave Zoe a serious bath every time they came to visit. On one occasion Eren had even barred them from visiting, somehow knowing Zoe had fleas before Jean had even noticed and refusing to let them in on the grounds that Levi would kill them all if she brought them into his apartment.

He learned that Eren thought most of his animals were probably reincarnated people. He suspected they may have known him in another life, though he had no memories of them. “Sometimes I find myself accidentally calling Levi ‘Captain,’ and I have no idea what that’s about,” he’d said. Jean privately agreed that reincarnation kind of made sense, if Eren’s intuitions were to be trusted. He wasn’t sure how else all of these animals would have “known” each other otherwise. “Levi also thinks something about Erwin and Mike being so small is very amusing. I don’t really get it.” Jean privately thought there was a lot about Levi no one likely understood, but he refrained from saying so.

He also learned that Eren only really liked cheese pizza, wasn’t a huge fan of Chinese food but seemed to love Thai, and had an annoying habit of drowning absolutely everything he ate in either soy sauce or ketchup.

He learned about Eren’s sister, Mikasa, who was apparently adopted (Jean had been shocked when he saw a photo of her on the wall at one point, noting they looked nothing alike) but was apparently closer to him than their father had been. He learned about Eren’s childhood friend, Armin, and how Eren often used to get beat up while trying to defend him from bullies growing up (Jean gathered that Mikasa was the real savior most of the time from the way Eren told it). He learned that Eren’s mother had died in a car wreck when he was young, and that their father had died very abruptly of cancer without giving them any warning he was even sick.

He learned that Eren sometimes forgot to lock the apartment door, and that he had the endearing habit of chewing on his lips during the tense parts of movies. He was passionate about virtually everything he talked about, and often very angry over the treatment of various animals he saw at work. He and Jean bickered constantly, but it was always good natured, and Jean felt incredibly relieved to find someone who seemed to understand his sense of humor so well.

Jean learned that Eren was a very selfless person overall. Eren often seemed stressed but somehow always managed to ask Jean how he was doing, and was never satisfied with one word answers, constantly pressing Jean for more details. He seemed surprisingly interested in learning about Jean in general, which never failed to leave Jean feeling flattered. Very few people had ever really cared to try and get close enough to ask him many of the things Eren did.

Sometimes, when they were watching a movie together, Eren would rest his feet across Jean’s lap. And sometimes, when Jean was lucky, Eren would fall asleep there on the sofa, allowing Jean the opportunity to watch Eren unhindered and without shame.

He never admitted to having a crush. He never made a move, and never tried to push the boundaries of their friendship. Jean desperately wanted to test things, to see if Eren felt the same way about him. Some part of him thought that he probably did. The rest of him was too afraid of losing the only real friend he’d had in years, and so they reached a state of equilibrium, their evenings together becoming a pleasant sort of routine.

Jean had thought being around so many animals would be weird or would make things seem crowded, but it never failed to amaze him how harmoniously they all coexisted together in Eren’s little apartment. Even with the addition of Jean and Zoe around, things always seemed strangely comfortable.

Jean found himself looking forward to visiting Eren more than he looked forward to spending time in his own apartment, and it was about that point in their friendship that Jean realized “home” had started to feel a lot more like Eren’s place than his own.

-

It was almost six months after they’d first met. Jean was out taking Zoe for a walk one warm evening as summer had just began to edge into fall, the sun still fairly high on the horizon as he stopped across the street from the apartment complex to wait for the light to change.

It was a busy Friday evening, cars zooming past them in a rush, eager to get home and begin their weekend. Jean could relate, feeling excitement at the prospect of yet another movie night fast approaching.

“We get to see everyone tomorrow,” he said to Zoe, ruffling her floppy ears fondly. “Are you excited?”

She barked up at him, wagging her tail. Jean smiled, feeling a rush of affection. It shocked him how attached to Zoe he had become. Before, Jean had never really given too much thought to pets in general, and now he wasn’t sure how he’d ever lived without having one around.

Still smiling, Jean looked up to find Eren leaning on the wall outside of their apartment building across the street from them. Eren seemed to notice him at the same time, giving Jean a surprised half-smile and a little wave.

A chill ran down Jean’s spin. He had a strange sense of déjà vu just before Zoe yanked out of his hands, making a beeline for Eren.

Only this time, they were on the opposite side of the road.

Jean saw his look of horror mirrored on Eren’s own face as they both rushed forward to stop her, but even as Jean called out to her he knew it was too late.

Everything was in slow motion. The shrill sound of tires screeching on asphalt echoed painfully in his ears, yet nothing was more painful than the dull thud of Zoe colliding with the far front tire of the car.

He dropped next to her on the side of the road, blood rushing in his ears so fast that he couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t know if the light had changed. He didn’t know if the cars around them had stopped. He didn’t know if he was even still breathing.

The only thing he knew was that Zoe wasn’t moving.

“Jean!” he heard Eren shouting, as if from somewhere far away. He felt Eren give him a rough shake, dragging him from his stupor. “Jean, I need you to take her inside. Get her up to my apartment. _Now_ ,” Eren was saying, and Jean felt himself obeying mechanically.

It wasn’t until they were outside of Eren’s apartment door that Jean realized he’d been crying and couldn’t remember when he began.

“Lay her down,” Eren said gently, his hand reassuring on Jean’s shoulder.

He did as he was told, dropping to the floor and resting her gently on the rug. The rug where she’d sat every weekend, cuddling Levi and licking Erwin and chasing Mike and barking happily at the birds and _he was never going to hear that or see that again_.

He felt rather than saw Levi come up behind him, yowling sadly. The other animals were strangely quiet, all creeping in closer to investigate and mourn.

Jean realized he was petting Zoe’s lifeless form absently through his tears and choked back a sob.

“Hey, shh, it’s ok. She’s going to be ok,” Eren said, taking hold of the hand he had been using to stroke her and holding it firmly between his own. He tilted Jean’s chin up, forcing him to look him in the eye. “I’m going to make sure she’s ok, alright? But I need you to step back. All of you,” he added, giving them all a look.

They obeyed silently, Jean scooting back a few feet to lean numbly against the wall. He felt Levi curl up between his legs and tried to take comfort in the fact that they all seemed to believe in Eren.

He just couldn’t wrap his mind around how Eren thought he could possibly fix this.

As he watched, Eren kneeled next to Zoe, placing one hand over her heart and another over her back half, which had taken the brunt of the blow. Jean felt fresh tears cascade down his cheeks but did nothing to hide them or wipe them away. He merely watched, grief-stricken and feeling sick. Feeling as if nothing would ever be the same without Zoe there beside him.

Levi suddenly nipped at his hand, startling Jean out of his downward spiral enough to realize that something was going on. Something was weird. There was a strange, pervasive feeling of hope permeating the room. All of the animals looked on contentedly, no longer seeming worried. Jean realized why a moment later.

Eren’s hands were glowing.

Jean hugged Levi against his chest in an effort to prevent himself from moving or saying anything, his mouth hanging open in awe.

Eren’s hands were fucking _glowing,_ emitting a golden light that seemed to seep into Zoe. Jean couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought beyond being able to recognize that what he was witnessing was a lot more powerful than someone being a goddamn pet psychic.

After a few minutes wherein Jean could see the sweat forming on Eren’s brow, his eyes shut and furrowed in concentration, Zoe’s leg gave a twitch and Jean felt his heart sing. He could see her chest beginning to rise and fall evenly, her eyes finally opening a few minutes later. Eren dropped his hands and she jumped up, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she licked Eren’s face eagerly.

Jean felt another batch of tears make their way down his face as he leapt forward, tackling Zoe in a fierce hug. “How _dare you_ , you stupid fucking dog, I thought you were dead! I told you not to run around, I told you it was dangerous, you could have died,” he babbled into her fur, not even caring that he was sobbing openly now.

He felt rather than saw Zoe calm beneath him, and when he finally leaned back she licked at his tears, giving him a low and apologetic whine.

“She’s sorry,” Eren said wearily from a few feet away where he was leaning heavily on his arms. Jean suddenly remembered exactly what had just happened and reached out to grab Eren’s hand without thinking.

“What the fuck just happened?” he pleaded, searching Eren’s face for answers.

Eren heaved a great sigh, looking thoroughly exhausted.

“Magic,” he said. When he looked like he planned not to say anything further, Jean yanked his hand forward, practically dropping a startled Eren into his lap.

“I am super serious right now,” Jean said slowly, “I am freaking the fuck out. Please give me a better explanation than that,” he begged earnestly. He saw Eren swallow thickly, sitting up as much as Jean’s grip on his arm would allow him to.

“It’s magic. Or something. I don’t know, really,” he admitted. “I can heal animals. It’s why I really work at the shelter. When severely injured animals come in, I can fix them. It only works on animals, though.”

Jean felt like nothing in the world made sense anymore. He also didn’t particularly care as long as it meant his dog was alive, but still. Nothing made sense.

“It’s really draining, though, so I don’t do it unless I absolutely have to,” he said, and Jean suddenly realized Eren sounded slightly out of breath.

Jean was feeling fairly emotionally compromised. As a result, the swell of gratitude and intense joy writhing within him, coupled with the rush of adrenaline he was still feeling, demanded action be taken.

So he pulled Eren forward and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

When he pulled back it was to find Eren’s face flushed, his expression dazed as he gazed up at Jean as though he were dreaming.

“Thank you,” Jean said. “I mean that seriously. Thank you so, so much for—for whatever you did, because you saved her.”

He glanced over to find Zoe grinning at him, Levi sitting beside her with a smug look on his feline features. Erwin and Mike both sat nearby, their noses wiggling in approval. “Kiss him!” he heard Oluo chirp, and was surprised to hear Petra join in this time.

“Um, also I hope this doesn’t seem weird or freak you out or anything but I’m feeling the weight of my mortality or whatever and just wanted you to know that I like you. Like, I really, really like you. In a more-than-friends way.”

Eren’s face seemed to go even more red, if that were even possible, his mouth gaping like a fish.

“You don’t have to return my feelings though! I mean, I’m totally cool with just being friends. I just wanted you to know,” he finished in a rush, feeling embarrassment begin to set in as the spike of adrenaline finally began to fade.

“I like you too,” Eren said, and Jean heard the birds whistling happily across the room. The dog was barking, Levi was waving his tail animatedly, and the bunnies were flopping around in celebration. Distantly, Jean wondered if they’d all known, and if they’d been waiting for this moment for a while.

Mostly he was focused on the fact that Eren had closed the distance between them and they were kissing again. It wasn’t anything especially passionate, given their current mental, physical, and emotional states, but it was also the most wonderful thing Jean could remember ever feeling. He sighed against Eren’s lips, trying not to cry _again_ ; there were so many emotions going through him right now that his brain felt like it was about to short-circuit. He just knew that he was ridiculously, unaccountably happy.

Eren pulled back after a moment to slump against his front, laying on him more than he was really hugging him. “Sorry,” he said quietly. It sounded almost like he was slurring. “’m really happy but really… tired.”

Jean sat there for a moment, stunned, because Eren had definitely just passed out against him and was now snoring softly into the lining of his shirt.

He looked at the animals, who were all clearly pleased with this turn of events, and pinned Zoe with a glare. “Look, I don’t care if it worked out in the end. Don’t you ever do that to me again, do you understand me?” he said.

She nodded, yipping quietly.

“Good then.”

He stood, picking Eren up and carrying him over to the couch. He collapsed back against it gratefully, Eren cradled against his chest and leaning against one plush green arm.

He needed a nap after all of this excitement. His dog had just died and then come back to life, he’d just found out that Eren was some kind of magic animal healer, and he was pretty sure he had also somehow scored himself a boyfriend in this whole mess. That was enough excitement to last him a whole year, let alone one day.

“I am going to sleep for at least twelve hours,” he declared to no one in particular, leaning his head against the back of the couch.

No one stopped him. They figured he deserved it.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to be tumblr buddies? Come and say hello. xenophonspeaks.tumblr.com


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